Damn..its been a year!!

Can't believe that it has been nearly a year since I have posted anything on here! Doesn't seem possible that time has flown by that fast. So much has happened in the last eleven months, though, a real eventful time.

Many of you already know of Gary's mother's passing in July; it was a sad, hard time for all. I'm really proud of how well Al has dealt with her loss, how he concentrates on the good times that they shared. That he is now facing his own mortality when it was discovered that the bladder cancer that they hoped they had beaten last year has now spread to his lungs, is another blow to the family. We're all still kind of numbed with the news...

My son-in-law was re-stationed clear across the United States last fall. Broke my heart!! Not having my daughter and grandchild nearby has been a real challenge for me! It was a good move for them I know; a better chance for Toby to advance in his career, but I sooo miss holding that sweet little one in my arms and seeing her learn to do all kinds of things. And she is getting so big!! She is going to be taller than her mother is, I'm sure.





More news is that in August we'll be welcoming another member to the family, as Jennie is expecting another baby. Don't know how I'll be able to stay here while that is happening! Grrrr.

I'm still taking pictures; Gary gave a beautiful camera for Christmas, but with school & the weather I haven't been able to get out much to take many pictures. Here are a few of them though.





I guess that'll be all for now. Hopefully I'll get on here more often than I have been!

Ehhh....

Well, I guess its about time I got off my ass and wrote something on here. At a loss on what to put down though, not much exciting happens around here.

Gary did go into the hospital for one night last week; apparently his potassium levels were too low and it made his heart begin to throw a lot of PVC's, which made him wobbly and dizzy. The Dr's bumped up how much potassium he has to take & it seems to have done the trick, cause he is almost back to his old ornery self.

School is going okay, made a 3.4 grade average last quarter. This quarter is a little whacked though. They have me in a 'career development course'. Its a good course to take, if you are in your teens or twenties, mabe even your thirties! It teaches you how to map out or plan your "career", how to do a "vision statement" ect., ect....Eeeeek. Plan my career? At 50+ years? Not a heck of a lot of planning left to do there! Sometimes I really have to wonder if advisiors actually LOOK at the students that come into their offices for advice.

Got me a camera for my birthday, or I should say Gary did. Its not a fancy Nikon one, but it has some good features, which of course, are as confusing to figure out how to use as any fancy camera..lol. Here are some of the pictures that I have taken with it. Not to bad, if I do say so myself.

Leanna having a snack

PawPaw and Leanna

Heron in Woodward Bay..telephoto shot

Back yard flowers

Just Piddlin'..

Well the end of the first quarter of school is drawing near with all of the drama and panic that goes along with it. I only get 5 days off school though, which sucks. How come the rest of the colleges around get two weeks off? **whines & cries** In any case its over; only three quarters left!!

Kudos need to go tho Gary for all the hard work he is putting in the gym. It tuckers him out, but he is getting stronger and healthier. He even has started riding again!!! We went team penning the other night with Chance & Elisa. Gary did two runs on Chance's horse Cowboy, and then I did two runs. I have to say it felt good to be back in the saddle again, even though Cowboy was being a butt. You'd swear that he had never seen a cow before in his life. He didn't go all spastic on us, but he flat refused to get closer than 4 feet to any of the steers. God, I miss Ziggy!! Remember him at the team penning's we used to go to Tonja & Meredith? **sigh**

Here are the required pictures of Leanna, who turned 9 months old the day after these were taken.

This last one was taken with my cell phone. I love it because you can really see her beautiful eyes.

Long Time no Post....

I guess I should have gotten off my butt and posted something on here a long time ago, but things have been hectic with me returning to school. This quarter I am taking 16 credits, going to school 6 days a week and working 25 days a week at a clinic in the local VA hospital, so that gives me 1 1/2 days to do homework, clean house, do all the other stuff that we reserve for the weekends. Errrrggg, I'm pooped! Next quarter looks to be a little lighter; I'm only going to be taking 14 credits and I'll have 3 days off!!! Yipee!!!

No post goes without mentioning the light of our lives, Leanna. She is 8 months old now and getting to be quite the character. She is still Papaw's girl all the way.I was informed that lst night she has started to crawl. Up to now if she wanted anything she'd just roll for it. Jennie tells me she rolled under their futon the other day and got stuck..poor baby..lol.

Chance & his girlfriend Lisa went to their first schooling show this weekened. They did rather well; Chance got a 2nd place, a third, a couple of fourths. Lisa did about the same except no 2nd place.

Gary is still on track with losing weight. He goea tto the gym and is now taking water areobics as well (all under the watchful eyes of a trainer & others) His BMI has dropped nearly 3 points, which is quite a bit, I am so proud of him & how dedicated he is.

Dreaming of a White Christmas....

Its been nearly a month since I've made my last post & I'd love to say that I have been just to busy to post anything, but the truth is I've just been to dang lazy.

Gary & I kept Leanna last weekend so Mom & Dad could rest..uh-huh, right!!
While she was here we had a little bit of snow, so we bundled her up & took her out in it so we could participate in her first snow experience. The expression on her face, I think, says it all.


And while Gary took that photograph, I have still been doing my fair share of snapping pics. Especially these last three or four days. We have had snow almost non-stop. Urrrggg!! But I have managed to get some nice shots.

This is the garden by the driveway..or what you can see of it.


The trees on the corner of the street on a short sun break..


Christmas decorations across the street...


Our poor little frog in the back yard...


All the kids were supposed to be coming to our house for Christmas dinner, hopefully they'll be able to make it!!

More photographs

I am continuing taking pictures, but I have to admit it is getting harder to go out when we are having our typical wet, gray and cold Washington winter weather. Ugh. But nonetheless I have managed to get a few good shots, and Gary & I have enjoyed jumping in the car and tootleling about the country so I can take pictures. Here are some of the recent ones;

Grandchildren

Someone asked me recently "How does it feel to be a grandmother?" I have to say that I actually had a hard time answering that question. Just how do you explain a feeling that you never thought would be possible?

What do I mean by that? Well, I never thought that I would feel anything that would equal to or be greater than, the love that I feel for my children. It just wasn't possible! Until the morning my grandaughter was born and I was looking down at her sleeping in the hospital. The love that rushed through me just about floored me with its intensity. I couldn't belive it.

Understanding also came as I rememberd something that I had seen my father do after I had taken my children to see him in Texas. My father was a big man 6'5" & about 250 lbs (not much fat either)This was a lifer in the Army, a former DI who went through 3 wars and won a bronze star, and while I remember him frequently playing ball & such with us kids, he nonetheless wasn't the type to ichy-gichy-goo a infant with " baby" talk or get down on the floor & crawl around in play. One day though, I caught my father laying on the den floor with my son straddling him, bouncing up & down & laughing while his grandfather, Mr. Tough Former DI, was holding my infant daughter in his huge hands and saying " Isn't you just the most precious widdle girl in all the world? Yes you is, yes you is granpa's widdle girl"

My father never knew I had witnessed that scene. Personally at the time, I thought the man had completely lost it, was getting senile or something. Until 5 months ago, when I reached out a finger and touched a tiny, soft cheek & thought "Isn't you the most precious widdle girl in all the world? Yes you is...."